What to Do When You Have Too Many Ideas

As entrepreneurs, many of our next big business strategies come from ideas that we formulate during unexpected moments. Who hasn’t been struck with inspiration during one of those late nights laying in bed awake or even during a few quiet minutes in the shower?

On one hand, it’s a blessing to have a wealth of ideas flowing through your mind – you’ve probably found a lot of success as a result of your over-active brain. But what happens when you have so many ideas that you’re not able to manage them effectively?

Rather than getting overwhelmed with ideas and feeling guilty because you aren’t acting on them, try implementing a few small techniques to feel organized, effective, and excited about your plans!

Most importantly: Don’t self-censor. Sometimes our ideas come in fragments, or they seem so off the wall that we dare not speak them out loud. That’s where the beauty of writing them down comes into play. When you have time, you can revisit your notes and fully flesh out some of the concepts you’ve been mulling over internally.

Carve Out Some Time for Action

Most of us feel like we have too many things to do on any given day, especially when you’re running your own business. You might feel that with all that’s on your plate, it would be nearly impossible to devote any time or energy into your new ideas, right?

But imagine what it would be like to set aside time each week or even once a month to fully devote yourself to your brainstorming sessions. Rather than having a lot of thoughts constantly running through your head and resulting in you feeling stressed about them, you would actually have some quiet time to fully dive in and stop feeling so scattered.

Make Your Priority List

If you’re anything like us, throughout the day your ideas are probably playing like a record in the back of your mind. If you feel like you’re being pulled in twenty different directions, it’s time to re-prioritize. Evaluate your ideas and write down the ones that are actionable, and be sure to integrate them into your existing to-do list. This will help avoid any feelings of guilt that you’re not devoting enough time to your new ideas.

On the flip side, if you find your business is being forgotten because of your passion for something new, a priority list will help bring you back into balance.

Put Your Ideas on a “Someday” List

Having too many ideas doesn’t mean that they all have to be acted upon immediately. Instead, try making a “someday” list to save your ideas for later.

Include all of your ideas, even those that seem incredible but might not merit your time and focus at this exact moment of your life. Perhaps you just need more time to marinate on them, or maybe upcoming decisions will influence the trajectory of a particular project. By creating this list, you’re giving yourself the time you need to fully develop your ideas.

Having a surplus of ideas can feel like a blessing and a curse. Feeling inspired is wonderful, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed if you’re not careful.

If you have a stream of ideas that constantly course through your brain, there’s no need to get frustrated with yourself for not acting on them quickly enough. The key is to take action around your ideas in one way or another. Try to make it a point to always value your ideas and approach the overflow with balance and excitement, and you’ll always be on your way to your next big adventure.

Emily Tisdale

Emily D. Tisdale is the Founder & CEO of Recourse Resource (a healthcare consulting firm) + LEAP for Women (an online resource for female entrepreneurs). If she ever won a work award, she'll first thank all of the horrible bosses in her past that pushed her into entrepreneurship :)

The place where entrepreneurs come to put themselves first. We're a community of experts that believe in the power of self-care for the self-employed. Our mantra: Your business thrives when you thrive.

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